dh bashed wing mirror, now other driver is trying to rip us off for 120 quid, not sure what to do.

[ErnestTheBavarian]

dh took dc to Kindergarten today. The road is narrow & v. busy & a bit chaotic. Dh accidentally bashed the wing mirror of a car parked there. He stopped & left a note giving his details. The glass part was hanging out.

I had meeting in the Kindergarten at 10.30. I looked at the car (it was still parked there) and saw the mirror hanging out of the housing & dh note still there. When I came out, the mirror was no longer dangling out, it had been put back in, and dh note was gone. I went to the car and looked closely. There was no sign of damage, no scratch on the paintwork. It looked fine.

Now dh has got a call from the owner saying he can fix it himself for 120 quid. I am a bit . Think he's trying to rip us off. Dh is tired & stressed and just wants to hand over the money. I am pissed off about it, as we're about to buy a house and really strapped for cash now, plus obv. the principle.

How do we handle it?

I'm fairly sure you're within your rights to ask him for formal quotes
Or that might be if you're going through insurance, which I'm guessing you're not?

Ask the person for a face to face chat about it, say you want to inspect the damage, note the car type and find a replacement wing mirror yourselves if need be.

Certainly don't hand over any cash without seeing a bill/reciept for £120

If it was a electric / heated mirror then £120 to fix it sounds about right. Even if it looked ok the electrics etc could be broken. Tbh I would pay up but then I hate confrontations.

Even if you're not going through insurance companies you are still well within your rights to ask for reciepts/bills before forking out any money.

we;ll i agree that you should request a quote for parts etc, or insist that it goes through insurance company.

BUT, i wankered my wing mirror while reversing out of a car park.
we stuck the glass back in, but actually it kept faling out whenever we drove along, so we ended up having to use zip ties to hold it in place.

I nearly had a heart attack when we had the quote to fix it. was about £200!!!! and when we investigated further the actual unit was £175, and we couldn't get it cheaper anywhere else.

so, yes, do insist on seeing quotes, but be aware that even a simple looking wing mirror can cost a LOT!

the actual painted housing was totally undamaged - I looked closely not a scratch & the mirror looked like it was fit back in fine. I think the glass popped out, he popped it back in and is now asking for 120 for fun. I honestly think it's undamaged. Of course, if dh did damage it, I feel we should pay, but how can we be sure?

You can get cheap wing mirrors from scrap yards, there is no reason why it has to be a new one.

yep our plastic casing was fine, and the glass was unbroken. but the bits that held the mirror in were broken and the entire unit had to be replaced.

was gutting. we spent weeks checking the local scrap yard for one before giving in and paying full price.

I knocked my wing mirror on a wall reversing badly although there didn't appear to be too much damage after I put the glass back in the electrics stopped working, so he may not actually be trying to rip you off.

Do you remember the make and model of car? If so, then ring a dealer yourself and get a quote from them.

Tbh £120 for a wing mirror on a newish car does not sound that unrealistic (although it is a lot of money, iyswim)

My mum bashed my grandpa's Jaguar mirror and it ended up costing her £650 (yes you read that right) to get a new one. She was whingeing about it for months. £120 seems quite reasonable. We paid that for one for our Golf about 4 years ago.

Someone bashed my car's wing mirror (and drove off) and although the glass went back in OK and the mirror looked fine, the adjustment mechanism was broken. This could be an accurate price for fixing the damage. I would definitely pay up because then it will put an end to the stress/situation. Just pay up and put it down to bad luck. I would not enter into a confrontation with a stranger in these particular circumstances. If you pay, the problem goes away.

A pheasant took out DH's wing mirror and it cost over £300 for a replacement. They are expensive.

I would ask them to show you a quote they have got for it. When I opened my door onto a car in a carpark once I asked them to send me a quote which I said I would pay (they immediately asked for £50). They did phone up to say they were sending a quote, but never did.

TBH £120 isn't much when it comes to fixing something on a car, always astounds me how something that seems so minor can cost so much, so he could be genuine, but I'd want to see the quotes/know exactly what I was paying for.

Meant to add, he could genuinely be doing you a favour by charging you for parts only, rather than letting it go through his insurance company/main dealer which could cost a lot more.

Seems about right to me.

Ask for reciepts though. I think that is important regardless.

If someone broke my wing mirror I would go to my dealer for it to be repaired or replaced. I wouldn't even consider going to a scrap yard for a cheap one.

Thanks you everyone. Dh has also now seen car and agrees it looks fine...

Interesting to hear all the various wing mirror experiences though. Seems 120 smackers is getting off lightly.

Have told dh he should ask for receipts. (daren't mention it was through the wisdom of mumsnet or he'd get all stubborn). WIll let you know how it pans out in case anyone really wants to know

Mumsnet is great for pretty much everything things like this, isn't it?